, 1887-05-01
MY FELLOW TRAVELLER.

do you mind letting me look at your
rings"
| started on hearing these words-frst,
because they were spoken in q coupe hat
was running between Paris and Tours,
where l did not expect to hear au English
voice; secondly, because l felt somewhat
alarmed to be travelling alone with a man
who was thus manifesting his interest in
n diamond ring which 1 had been vain and
foolish enough to buy the day before in
Paris and was now wearing. A hurried
glance somewhat reassured me; so / held
u my hand to him, and then something
in the way in which he examined my re-
cent purchase told ne that / had come
across, not a robber, but q diamond mer-
chant. He was slightly built and had
dark hair and whiskers. His features
were well cut and his eyes were blue. /
think he was older han he looked. He
was probably so or So, but might have
passed for nearly ten years less.
May 1 ask what you gave for it?'' he
inquired after u brief scrutiny.
named the sum.
you were done,'' he replied lyon
ought not to have paid more than half
that price. The stone is faulty, but has
been very skillfully cut, and hat is how
you have been taken in. Well, l don't
suppose there is ono person out of a thou
Sunu VINO Will discover Una II IL not
nearly so good as it looks
That was certainly some consolation.
'You are in the trader I hazarded.
81 was replied my fellow traveller;
but 1 met with an adventure that upset
me for a time, and was the cause of my
giving up business. l had acquired n
competence for n bachelor with inexpen.
sive tastes, but still 1t was against the
grain for me to leave Off trading and lead
an inactive life. Indeed, but for certain
nervous scruples that have taken posses
sion of me, l think 1 would begin dealing
again tomorrow. II you would care to
hear the event 10 which l refer, and which
has effected me SO greatly, l will tell 1t to
you. There is nothing else to be done,
and 1t Will help to pass the time"
L expressed my desire to hear his story;
but had 1 co~njectured what he was about
to tell me, 1 would have begged him to
hold his peace.
The reader, however, need nave no SIM
liar conjunction about perusing the mar
~rative, as 1t was the mans wistful eyes
and pathetic expression, and more still,
the subsequent occasion on which l saw
him, that have caused his tale to haunt
me.
'If ever anyone he began, ''had II
right to consider himself cosmopolitan, I
have; for my father was Of Jewish eN-
traction, and my mother was French; L
was born and educated in New York, and
from my youth l have traded in London
aud Paris. l inherited from my father u
fair amount of capital to start with, and
that of course was a great matter. WAS
pretty cuts in dealing, and never specu-
lated. s. that, although the process was
slow, 1 gradually acquired n moderate
fortune. The first big haul l made was
when diamonds We're first discovered at
the Cape. Invent out, purchased largely,
and did several good strokes of business.
after that l went to India, where as n
buyer / entered into the most extensive
transactions l had ever made in my life.
/ then returned to Europe bringing the
stones with me. At Suez / fell in with
u Breek jewel merchant, with whom |
was acquainted. He too had been in the
east, Ind was now going TO Venice,
to buy pearls that wore being sold
there. l agreed to accompany him,
as l thought l might be able to do some
business myself, and, as l was on my way
for Paris, 1t was not much out of my
road. We arrived In Venice together,
where my friend went to stay with a re-
iatiOn, and l to a hotel. Next evening I
called on him, and he agreed TO return
with me to the hotel and have supper
with me. | had somewhere else TO go,
and il was arranged that on my return he
would join me and accompany me back.
rs the Condola in which / was seated
approached the rendezvous, 1 saw my
fr. tid standing close to the water, at the
end 81 = narrow passage which led from
the house where he was staying. 1t was
dusk, but Us we approached, l could see n
man stealing up behind him, and, ere l
could raise my voice in warning, my
friend was struck down. Then his assail-
ant, STOPPING over the motionless body,
began to rifle it. The two gondoliers, who
had also witnessed the attack, melted by
me, urged the boat forward with the
utmost speed, and In a few seconds we
were upon the scene. AS l sprang from
the boat the assassin looked up and
seemed to hesitate whether to attack me,
but seeing the two men coming to did me,
he fed ere l had time to reach him, and
soon disappeared. My friend was not
killed, ms ! had feared, but had been
badly stabbed between the shoulders.
The robber had evidently consid-
cred his watch, chain and purse
as objects too trivial for plumber,
and had not had time to reach a leather
bag containing some very valuable pearls
and other gems, which was secured in IN
inside pocket, and had clearly been the
motive OF the crime.
Il had only intended to remain a few
days, and the night before my departureSI
left the hotel for n little, locking the door
of my room rs usual. The diamonds were
in n leath sr case at the bottom of a strong
box, which was full of clothes and other
property of l.ttle value. | thought the
diamonds safer there than anywhere else,
as no one, not even my friend, knew of